Dean Moxey believes a short break from the Derby County starting line-up has been an education.

Moxey has spent the last month on the bench with Jay McEveley preferred ahead of him in the left-back spot.

The former Exeter City defender was restored to the starting line-up last weekend at West Bromwich Albion with McEveley serving the first of a two-match ban and he will retain his place today for the visit of Watford.

And he believes his brief stint on the bench has been a huge learning curve which will benefit him in the long term.

He said: "It was nice to return to the team last week, the circumstances were unfortunate for Jay but it is an opportunity for me now.

"Jay has been outstanding so I have no complaints that he has been ahead of me lately.

"I think sitting on the sidelines I have learnt a little bit more about the Championship and also positioning as a defender, in particular by watching Jay very closely and the Gaffer talking to me.

"A little rest may well have re-charged my batteries for the final run-in too.

"With the amount of games we have coming up this month it will be a big test for us as a team fitness wise, but we're up for it."

Derby take on Watford today at Pride Park looking to bounce back from back-to-back defeats, and with the Hornets, Reading and Doncaster coming up this week Moxey believes the Rams have a great opportunity to get some points on the board.

"We made stupid mistakes as a defence which cost us against West Brom, so we know we need to improve on that front," he said.

"It is a big week for us with three games on the horizon.

"We want to finish as high as we possibly can and three games in a week presents a great opportunity to rack up some points.

"We don't have a points total target as such, we just want to make sure we are safe and finish as high as we can, and kick-on for next season from there."